Please Join Us
in Supporting
Musicians in Need
With the Red Cross and other worthy charities tending to the immediate & basic needs of displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina, we'd like to make you aware of opportunities focusing specifically on members of the music community that are in dire need of our support.

The MusiCares Foundation, established by the Recording Academy (think Grammy's) has been helping musicians in need since 1989. The group has mobilized its considerable resources and has established the MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund fueled by the organization's initial donation of $1,000,000. According to contact, Debbie Carroll, the organization has developed a 3-phase relief plan that will cover short, medium and long-term needs of musicians affected by the hurricane.

Phase 1 addresses food, clothing, transportation and medical needs. The organization has already distributed cashiers checks, totaling $300,000 to more than 150 musicians in need.

Phase 2 will supply assistance for re-location and counseling.

And if they have sufficient funds, Phase 3 will help re-build musician's homes.

The Recording Academy, The Latin Recording Academy, MusiCares Foundation and the GRAMMY Foundation have also created a matching fund with their employees to help ensure that the area's music scene will recover and thrive.

Artists in need and groups and individuals who wish to help should visit their website or call the central office at: 877.626.2748.

The Tipitina's Foundation, created by the legendary New Orleans's club is committed to saving the city's music culture. Their efforts include locating all New Orleans artists and their families and then supplying housing for those in need. They have also developed a database of people throughout the country who will supply artists with temporary housing and other needs including basic living expenses for shelter, food, utilities, transportation; medical expenses for doctor, dentist and hospital bills, medications; clothing; instrument and recording equipment replacement; relocation costs; school supplies for students; insurance payments and more.

Area artists and those interested in donating should visit their site or mail checks to: Tipitina's Foundation, 1251 North Ardenwood Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70806 or you can make a donation online via the clubs' ticketing agent, MusicToday. Tipitina's will also be hosting a series of fundraising concerts in the upcoming months.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Station, WWOZ 90.7 is now operating as a station in exile. The station is requesting any listeners with MP3's of WWOZ programming to contact Ken Freedman at WFMU for use on WWOZ's temporary webstream. They are accepting donations and list various charities that are caring for the music communities needs at their site. The station is also maintaining a database of area musicians who are safe. You can check on these artists or register musicians at the site. To help get musical instruments back into the hands of New Orleans' musicians, contact Katrina's Piano Fund.

Please let us know about efforts that you are involved in and how we might help.

An unfortunate coda to all this good will is that while so many are unselfishly raising money for Katrina's victims, there are also many scam artists that have seized upon the opportunity and are preying on unsuspecting good Samaritan's.

According to Tom Zeller, Jr. of The New York Times, "The Internet is brimming with swindles, come-ons and opportunistic pandering related to the relief effort in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama." Many fraudulent sites are accepting donations illegally "or luring victims to fake Web sites in the guise of legitimate charities, where credit card information is stolen or viruses are installed on users' machines".

The FBI and other agencies offer the following tips to avoid becoming one of their victims:

l Do not respond to unsolicited e-mail messages. Legitimate charities will not typically send mass mailings or spam messages seeking donations.

l Do not assume that a charity is legitimate on the basis of its name. Many fraud artists will use a name that sounds good or is similar to that of a respected charity.

l Go directly to the Web site of a recognized charity or aid organization by typing in its address (for example, RedCross.org), as opposed to following a link.

l Verify the legitimacy of nonprofit organizations. Donors can go to a state's online registry of nonprofit groups or call state agencies for advice.

l Be leery of e-mail messages claiming to show pictures of the disaster areas in attachments; the files may contain viruses.

l Be suspicious of anyone wanting on-the-spot donations or refusing to provide written, verifiable information on their group.